Single in Suburbia Read Online Free

rubbed his wife’s nose in it as yours apparently has, the marriage is over.”
    Amanda’s mouth was completely dry. She swallowed again but all the moisture seemed to have moved to her eyes.
    “I’m not a marriage counselor. I’m not here to help you fix your relationship. I’m here to protect you.” She pulled two Kleenex from the black lacquer dispenser on her desk and handed them to Amanda.
    “Normally, I advise my clients to file for divorce immediately because it freezes the joint assets and allows us to access financial information. It also gives you a psychological advantage, because when you take action you stop feeling like a victim.”
    Amanda thought she nodded, but she wasn’t sure. She was concentrating all her energies on not allowing the tears to spill down her cheeks.
    “You can’t bury your head in the sand, Amanda. The longer you wait the greater the opportunity he has to hide or shift assets. Even if you’re not ready to file, you want to start gathering financial documentation.”
    Amanda dabbed at her cheeks. The tissue came away sopping wet.
    “Has your husband retained an attorney?”
    “He is an attorney. He’s a tax attorney with Powell Newman.”
    Anne Justiss sighed. “The bad news is he can get the divorce guy in the firm to handle it and he won’t be worried about running up the hours.” She cocked her head. Amanda imagined she could see the mind racing inside. “The good news is he’s probably not going to want to look too bad in front of a judge; he’ll have his reputation to consider.”
    The attorney considered her carefully. “I know this isn’t easy,” she said. “But I can promise you it’s better to take action than to live in a continued state of emotional limbo.”
    Amanda nodded, but her heart wasn’t in it.
    “Traditionally after a divorce, the man’s standard of living improves. The ex-wife and children’s standard of living drops dramatically. I do my best not to let that happen to my clients. Candace may have mentioned my belief in the Green Giant school of divorce.”
    “Green Giant?” Amanda tried to blink away her tears even as she tried to follow the conversation. “As in the vegetables?”
    Anne Justiss smiled a very tight smile. “There’s a very old joke that asks what do you have when you’ve got a large green ball in one hand and a second green ball in the other?”
    Amanda shook her head, thrown by the insertion of veggies into the conversation.
    “Complete control of the Jolly Green Giant.”
    Anne Justiss’s blue eyes were now more like steel than cornflowers. Her delicate features had also hardened. “I can help you get your husband by the balls,” she said with complete certainty. “But the time to act is now. We want to sue for subpoena and get hold of all relevant financial information as quickly as possible.”
    Amanda studied the woman in front of her. She’d wanted someone who wouldn’t be afraid and she’d found her. But she would have given all she owned to be able to turn the clock back to just before everything fell apart; would have given anything not to have to make this decision.
    She’d spent the last months praying for a miracle that would somehow put their lives back the way they were. But Rob was airbrushed and he had a girlfriend named Tiffany. No amount of wishful thinking was going to alter that reality.
    Amanda straightened slowly and met the attorney’s gaze straight on. She’d waffled long enough. She had nothing to gain from waiting and everything to lose. It was time to act. “It might take me a few days to put together the deposit,” Amanda said carefully. “But I’m ready for you to go ahead and start squeezing.”
      
    The drive home from Anne Justiss’s office was an out-of-body experience. Like the near dead who claim to watch the efforts to resuscitate them from above, Amanda saw her minivan traveling north on Highway 400 toward the suburbs, saw it change lanes, merge, and exit the